Preview: Glenn Jones/Constellation

Cul-de-Sac’s knotty first album, the 1992 “Ecim,” was issued when guitarist Glenn Jones was almost forty years old. He’s almost sixty now and is working his way across the country, touring on his sixth solo album, “My Garden State.” When Jones arrived in Cul-de-Sac with tunes like “Death Kit Train,” “Homunculus” and “Electar,” it signaled a renewal in Stateside kosmische jamming—but was infused with dusty American guitar styles. Over the next decade and change, the guitarist and his northeastern cohort slowly insinuated more finger-picked primitivism into their work. At some point, though, Jones decided to go it alone, issuing acoustic albums first with Strange Attractors and for the last several years through Thrill Jockey. Apart from the eventual addition of banjo to Jones’ repertoire, differentiating the discs is a moody proposition. Each features more than a handful of dolorous moments amid rugged bluesy fare. His works are a mixed bag, often searching for a proper resolution—songs frequently reaching the seven-minute mark. Some would perceive that as experimenting with the form of improvised acoustic music—and that well may be the case. Closing 2012’s “The Wanting” with a duet accompanied by free-jazzer Chris Corsano speaks to that. The tension created by chugging percussion enables the track to span seventeen minutes. It’s perhaps that release convincing Jones to reel it in for his most recent, and most uniformly somber, album. The back story’s one of his mother’s ill-health. And the music reflects an air of sturdy reverence—for his family, its heritage and the musical lineage Jones has become a part of. “Going Back to East Montgomery,” the album’s most lengthy track summons the South and the nation’s past struggles in its name, while Jones’ performance twinkles with affection for musical and spiritual forefathers. (Dave Cantor)